Harrison 'knows he is going to die soon'

George Harrison is losing his fight against cancer, friends suggested last night.

The former Beatle, who has been having radiotherapy after developing a secondary brain tumour, is said to have accepted he is dying.

The 58-year-old musician is reported to be 'philosophical' about his condition and is aware that he does not have long to live.

Sir George Martin described how Harrison made the emotional confession after being treated by leading cancer specialists in Switzerland.

'He is taking it easy and hoping that the thing will go away,' said Sir George, who was the group's producer. 'He has an indomitable spirit but he knows that he is going to die soon and he is accepting that.

'George is very philosophical. He does realise that everybody has got to die sometime. He has been near death many times and he's been rescued many times as well.

'But he knows he is going to die soon and he's accepting it perfectly happily.'

The other surviving Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, were unavailable for comment.

News of the extent of Harrison's illness comes after he was diagnosed with the malignant brain tumour last month, his third bout of cancer.

His fight against the disease began in 1997 when he discovered a cancerous growth on his neck. Two intensive courses of radiotherapy followed and he later received an all-clear.

'I got it purely from smoking,' he said at the time. 'Luckily, they found that this nodule was more of a warning than anything else. I'm not going to die on you folks just yet.'

After recovering, Harrison began having annual checks at the Mayo Clinic in the U.S.. However, in March, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and had surgery to remove a tumour.

But after a convalescing in Tuscany with his second wife Olivia, he was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Professor Franco Cavalli, Switzerland's most senior cancer specialist who has treated Harrison in Bellinzona, said: 'He has not recovered but he is not a patient any more.'

In addition to his health battle, Harrison suffered an attack on his life in 1999 when a crazed fan broke into his mansion in Oxfordshire and stabbed him ten times. Michael Abram, 34, a former heroin addict, was sent to a mental hospital indefinitely last November.